In Use:

I initially utilized the NodOn Soft Remote as a standalone controller, and I could definitely see it being a decent choice for an entry into home automation. If you were really going to get serious about automation in your home, I would recommend a hub, but the NodOn does work. I am picturing it being particularly useful in this mode at a cabin or in an RV, where perhaps you don't have reliable Internet, too many device to connect, or any advanced scenes or features. Just controlling a few lights and other devices is definitely something I could see this handling quite nicely. I only connected one light switch to the Soft Remote while in this mode, but it paired easily and I was able to choose what buttons I wanted to use to control the light.

I also immediately realized that whether in standalone or gateway mode, I would need a cheat sheet to go along with this device. With four buttons, but with the ability to control 16 devices, I am going to get confused. I was never very good at video games where I needed to memorize combination keys for advanced moves, and this could be even more frustrating. Up/down/left/right instead of up/down/right/left might have made me lose a fight in a game, but now "filled circle tapped" instead of "open circle double tapped" or "open circle held" (for example) might be the difference between turning on the outdoor lights, closing the garage door, or opening the garage door. So, I will definitely make a little laminated card guide for this as I start adding more commands to it.

Fibaro HCL:

To see what the Fibaro Home Center Lite would recognize the NodOn Soft Remote as while in gateway mode, I paired it to that hub first. In the images below you can see that it did indeed realize that it was a remote controller, and that I could begin customizing the buttons from there.



Samsung Smartthings:

I now have my whole smart home ecosystem running on Samsung's Smartthings, so I removed the Soft Remote from the Fibaro HCL, and brought it over here next. By default, the Soft Remote is detected as an Aeon Key Fob, which will work, but limits the device to just having four buttons / four commands available. After installing this device handler by anderssv, the Soft Remote can now control the 16 devices it is intended to control thanks to the device handler recognizing taps, double taps, holds, etc... The Right Now tab below just shows a remote and that the batteries are at 100%. In the below right image we see some recent activity where I was just testing the response to taps on the buttons and holding the buttons. They were all logged properly, so once you figure out what you are doing, the device is definitely capable of executing your commands!



The next row of images shows the creation of a Routine that will allow the NodOn Soft Remote to be used to execute commands through Smartthings. First we see a routine being created that will turn on four outside lights, and then that this routine will be triggered automatically by pushing or holding a button. From there we see a section of the setup where I have assigned it to the NodOn Soft Remote, and that we will push button 1 to turn these lights on. The final two screenshots show the submenus where you select which button and whether it is to be pushed or held.



This configuration works perfectly... Just tapping button 1 (the filled circle) turns all of these lights on. I then created another routine where holding the filled circle turned all of these lights off again. But, that the device handler now calls the buttons by number means my cheat sheet will have to grow to four columns in order to list the buttons by number, by symbol, by action ( ie. push/hold), and by executed command.

I then wandered down the driveway away from the house to see how far I could get before the Soft Remote was out of range of the Z-Wave network. Just estimating, but I was probably 100+ feet away from the closest wall of the house, which seems pretty good to me, since all the Z-Wave modules are inside the house, even if controlling outdoor devices. I usually don't even expect the garage door opener in my car to work until I am much closer than this, so that is also a plus. I could see keeping the Soft Remote in my car, pulling up to the house, and reaching for this instead of my phone or garage door clicker in order to turn on lights and open the doors. The Soft Remote seemed to rejoin the Z-Wave network quickly too, and I was honestly expecting it to be more like a WiFi device where I regularly lose my patience while my phone or tablet try to rejoin the home network.